Swansea, Australia

On a sunny day, the fifty-kilometre drive north from Triabunna to SWANSEA is spectacularly beautiful with brilliant white beaches, the intense aquamarine of Great Oyster Bay and views across to the Freycinet Peninsula, where the pink contours of the Hazards Mountains shimmer in the distance. One of Tasmania's oldest settlements, Swansea is an administrative centre, fishing port and seaside resort, with well-preserved architecture dating from the 1830s to the 1880s. The focus of town has always been Morris's General Store, on Franklin Street, run by seven generations of the family since 1868. Swansea's past can be revisited at the volunteer-run Heritage Centre (days and times vary; usually 9am–3pm; $3), also on Franklin Street, and at the impressive collection in the restored Swansea Bark Mill, 96 Tasman Highway (daily 9am–5pm; $10), once used to produce leather-tanning agents from native blackwattle bark.